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Paper short abstract

In this paper, I examine how policies aimed at maritime sustainable transport and disposal of waste occur on the ground, and with what implications for environmental harm and social inequalities.

Paper long abstract

In this paper, I examine how policies aimed at maritime sustainable transport and disposal of waste occur on the ground, and with what implications for environmental harm and social inequalities. I focus on the case of Fincantieri, one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world, now allegedly at the forefront of maritime sustainability and green transition. Anthropological studies have pointed to the relevance of the concept of intreccio (interweaving), to grasp the entanglements between crime and the social contexts in which it operates.

Applying the concept of interweaving to maritime crime, I argue that Fincantieri’s sustainable waste management policies are often enacted through interwoven relationships between state legal frameworks, business interests, and criminal organizations. Drawing from ethnographic research conducted in the ports of Venice and Trieste, I show how an agreement between the shipbuilding company and the state on the ecological disposal of waste is reproducing illegal national and transnational transport and dumping of toxic materials both in the Mediterranean sea as well as off the coast of Somalia, while relying on the criminalization of Bangladeshi migrants. Mapping the logistical operations that make illegal waste dumping possible, I stress the ecological degradation underlying green energy transition and green management disposal policies.